


There And Back Again

by katling



Series: Tony Stark Bingo [18]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Civil War Team Iron Man, I don't know where I was going with this, M/M, Mordo is an ass, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Stephen has principles, Though that's very minor, but sweet and fluffy in the end, little but angsty, not team Cap friendly, someone had to be the bad guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 12:04:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19973782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: Mordo comes after Stephen with a spell aimed at Tony that de-ages him, firstly to his mid-twenties and then to his teens. Stephen... copes and Loki is the real hero.Written for the Tony Stark Bingo 2019 - Square R5: De-Aging (Any)Written for the Ironstrange Bingo - Safe





	There And Back Again

“This is very bad timing.”

Rhodey glanced over at Stephen Strange, a pithy comment on the tip of his tongue until he saw the look on the sorcerer’s face. He sighed and placed a hand on Stephen’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. “Yeah, I know.”

“I have to deal with Maximoff but I do not wish to leave him alone.”

Rhodey’s face darkened at the mention of the witch but then he relaxed again. “And Carol and I have to deal with the rest of them so I know how you feel. But I’ve taken care of it.”

“How?” Stephen said acidly.

Rhodey smiled slightly. “I’ve called in Pete, Harley, Kamala and Donnie.”

Stephen stilled for a moment then he chuckled softly. “Spider-Man, Iron Lad, Ms Marvel and Blizzard. That will work very well. Thank you, Jim.”

Rhodey nodded and looked through the window into the Hulk’s playpen, which they were using as a safe room. No one was quite sure why Mordo was targeting Tony other than as a way of getting to Stephen but he’d attacked him twice now. The first time, the spell he’d used had de-aged Tony to his mid-20s, something he’d found hilarious and even something of a relief given the battering his body had taken since Afghanistan and particularly in Siberia. The second attack, however, had de-aged Tony back to his mid-teens, at which point the whole thing had become a whole lot less funny.

Tony had thankfully been old enough to recognise Rhodey and he had clearly retained some of his older self’s knowledge since he had gravitated towards Stephen without hesitation. He’d also grinned at Pepper but refrained from any of the crass comments he’d been known for at fifteen that had always made Rhodey facepalm extensively. He clearly remembered his life in some way though he seemed unable to articulate how much he did know. Either way, they were pretty confident he’d recognise the kids and even if, for some reason, he didn’t, he’d still be thrilled to have kids around him who could keep up with him intellectually.

At the moment, Tony was lounging on the bed they’d had brought in, reading something on the tablet he’d been given. Well, the second tablet he’d been given. He’d taken apart the first one and the detritus of it was currently sitting on the desk in the room. He wasn’t particularly happy about being stuck in the Hulk’s playpen but he’d reluctantly accepted the necessity after Rhodey had shown him vision of the first two attacks. The jolt he’d given had been physical as well as mental and something of an indication that possibly Tony remembered things from his older self only when he was ‘reminded’ in some way. But ultimately, Tony might hate being confined and bored but he wasn’t inclined to let Mordo have a third go at him and be reduced to being under ten.

“Any word on Mordo?” Rhodey asked.

“Not yet,” Stephen said stiffly. “Wong says they have a lead though.”

Rhodey nodded and gave Stephen’s shoulder another comforting squeeze. The sorcerer was blaming himself, though he was the only one doing so. They all knew what it was like to have enemies and have those enemies target those you care about instead of you. Rhodey knew Pepper had taken Stephen aside and talked to him about Killian and Vanko and all of that mess, both to sympathise and also to warn him about what not to do and say to Tony once they’d gotten him back to normal.

“We managed to get hold of Thor,” Rhodey said. “He’s bringing Loki in.”

Stephen grimaced and bit back the words of protest he wanted to say with little more than a low growl. Mordo had given the spell he’d used twice now on Tony a nasty little twist. If Stephen or Wong or any of the other Masters of the Mystic Arts tried to reverse it, the spell caused intense and agonising pain to Tony while having absolutely no effect on the spell itself. They were hoping that Loki might be able to counter it without hurting Tony. 

There had been some tentative suggestions about asking Maximoff as well but that had been vetoed by Rhodey and Stephen. The only thing that was going to happen to Maximoff when the Rogues arrived was for her powers to be limited and contained until she demonstrated both competency and control… and until she passed a psychological evaluation. Stephen, having reviewed vision from the Avengers’ missions and her training sessions… as well as the HYDRA records they’d dug out of the data dump, was firmly of the opinion that she was very competent and had a great deal of control and he and Wong had a training regime set out that was designed to lure her into proving that. Once that was done, they would be able to make the case that everything she’d done since her initial attack on Tony in Sokovia onwards was all deliberate and malicious… including her “failure” in Lagos.

“If it’s any consolation, Loki is furious,” Rhodey continued.

Everyone had been surprised at how protective Loki was regarding Tony even before this had happened. No one had an explanation, not even Thor, and Loki refused to say anything about it.

Stephen was silent for a moment then he sighed. “Yes, it is, somewhat. At least I can feel confident that he will not take advantage of the situation.”

“Colonel? Dr Strange?” FRIDAY said. “The jet from Wakanda is about ten minutes away.”

Rhodey and Stephen exchanged glances and then squared their shoulders. “FRIDAY? Make sure none of the Rogues can get down here, no matter what?” Stephen said.

“You got it, Doc,” FRIDAY said firmly. “They won’t get near the boss.”

*****

Tony looked up from the plans he was working on with Harley and Peter and frowned at the tall, slim, black-haired man who had just walked into his… room. The man looked vaguely familiar and he waited to see if his memories would surrender up the man’s identity. He’d learned that it was best to wait and let it. Whatever had been done to him hadn’t erased his memories, just hidden them, leaving only what he should know and remember for the age he was now. But every time he met someone, some of those memories unlocked and came back. He suspected that wasn’t what was supposed to happen but he wasn’t going to say anything in case this Mordo guy got wind of it and changed his spell.

He wrinkled his nose at even the thought of magic and then the man’s identity came back along with a flood of related memories, a few bad but most of them – the recent ones – quite good.

“Loki,” he said with firm relief.

Loki looked pleased as he came over and sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the three teenagers. “Good,” he said. “If you can access your older memories then the spell may be lifted.”

“Without hurting him, right?” Harley said with more than a hint of aggression in his voice. He’d been around for some of the later attempts by the Masters to remove Mordo’s spell and Tony’s screams of pain still haunted him.

“That is the intent,” Loki replied, calm in the face of Harley’s protectiveness. He turned back to Tony. “May I use magic on you to determine what has been done?”

Tony blinked once again. Every time one of the Masters had made an attempt, they’d done the same thing – asked his permission and waited patiently until he gave it. He suspected there was a reason behind it but since it was still lost in the memories that had been locked away, he obviously hadn’t hit the person or thing that had triggered it.

“Okay,” he said with a small nod before bracing himself. Loki might not intend to cause him pain but neither had Stephen, Wong and the other Masters.

Loki raised his hands and a wave of green magic flowed out and washed over him, clinging to him in places before sinking into his skin. 

“Tony? Are you okay?” Harley said urgently from one said as Peter leaned in with a matching expression of concern.

Tony shook his head. “I’m fine. It feels a little weird but it doesn’t hurt.”

Loki frowned as his magic reported back to him and then he sat back with a huff of annoyance. “I need to speak to Strange and Rhodes.”

“Why?” Tony said warily. “This is about me so shouldn’t you speak to me?”

Loki stared at him for a moment then he inclined his head slightly. “You are correct. Very well. The spell can be removed but… there may be some complications.”

“What kind of complications?” Peter asked.

“It appears that Mordo cast two spells, similar but subtly different,” Loki replied. “No doubt he adjusted his spell after the first effort.”

“So what’s the problem?” Tony asked.

“I can remove the first spell but not the second,” Loki replied. “The second one is permanent.”

Tony blinked and glanced at the two boys next to him before his gaze flickered over to Kamala and Donnie, who were listening intently from the other side of the room. “So… I’d stay like this permanently?”

Loki shook his head. “No. Removing the spell would return all of your memories and… some of your years.” He smirked faintly, just enough to make Tony relax. He recognised the smirk. It wasn’t Loki’s mocking smirk, it was his ‘I am amused and I believe you will be too’ smirk. “I believe it will leave you somewhere in your late twenties or possibly early thirties.”

Tony stared at him for a moment and then started to snicker. “So, you can turn Mordo’s ‘let’s try to de-age Tony Stark out of existence in order to hurt Stephen’ spell into a fountain of youth spell?”

“I believe that would be an adequate description,” Loki said in such a bland tone that it set the other teenagers in the room off into fits of laughter.

“You’ll…” Harley waved a hand at him as he spluttered with laughter. “You’ll be Doctor Strange’s toy boy .”

That sent Tony off into gales of laughter, though underneath he was somewhat relieved. He’d remembered his relationship with Stephen the moment he’d set eyes on the man but while Stephen had been rattled and amused when he’d been reduced to his twenties, he’d been positively stand-offish and aloof since he’d been reduced to a teenager.

“Now I shall go and speak to Strange and Rhodes,” Loki said dryly. “And leave you all to gather what few wits you possess.”

“Love you too, Lokes,” Tony said through his giggles as Loki rolled his eyes at them and left the room.

******

Tony stood in the middle of the Hulk playroom with his chin raised in nervous defiance, a stance his father would have recognised and gotten irritated by in an instant but which was greeted with little more than amusement by everyone here. The rest of the room had been cleared of everything that had been brought in and when Loki walked into the room, the door closed with a clang Tony felt sounded very final. Through the window, he could see Rhodey, Pepper and Stephen watching them with worry and concern.

“This _is_ going to work, right?” he said, shifting from foot to foot.

Loki simply raised a mildly offended eyebrow at him and Tony couldn’t help the snigger that escaped him.

“ _My_ magic does not go awry,” the god said with a disdainful sniff.

Tony cocked his head with amused curiosity. “What did Maximoff do now?”

Loki sneered at the question and Tony could see the utter contempt in the man’s eyes. “Her lack of respect for the sanctity of other people’s minds would see her _eviscerated_ on at least three planets I know of.”

“Oooh, let’s send her to one of them,” Tony said brightly. He didn’t _quite_ remember what Maximoff had done to him, only that it had been invasive and traumatising and his mostly teenage mind wasn’t having any of it. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to remember either but he probably didn’t have much choice about that.

“Tempting,” was all Loki would say as he settled himself into a comfortable stance. “Now. Relax and don’t fight my magic. I will not harm you, only restore you as much as is possible.”

Tony sobered and forced himself to relax, rolling his shoulders then nodding to Loki to indicate his readiness. Green light flowed out from Loki’s hands and Tony managed not to flinch when it hit him. He expected to feel something painful as the green crawled all over him but it just felt a little tingly and warm. That helped him to relax even more and as he did, he felt his mind start to float. It felt nice and he closed his eyes and let whatever Loki was doing just happen. He didn’t feel the magic pulse around him nor did he notice when yellow light began to ooze out of him. He just felt floaty and calm and after a few minutes, a little heavy around his chest.

He didn’t even remember passing out… or perhaps it was falling asleep… he wasn’t sure which one but he woke up in his own bed in his own bedroom and there was someone sitting on the bed next to him. He grumbled under his breath and opened his eyes to find Stephen sitting beside him, pretending to read. He knew it was pretending because there was a little crease Stephen got between his eyebrows when he was really reading that was absent right now.

“Merlin?”

Stephen blinked and looked down at him. “Tony?” he said stiffly. “How much do you remember?”

“Blargh,” Tony said as he sat up. “Everything sucky little thing.”

“Only the bad things?” Stephen said with immediate concern.

Tony grinned and swung himself around so he was straddling Stephen’s legs. “Nope. I remember the good stuff too. Like that thing you do with your tongue…”

Stephen clapped a hand over his mouth but he looked too amused for Tony to be concerned. “Thank you. I get the point.”

Tony peeled the hand away from his mouth. “So are you going to touch me now?”

Stephen sighed and let his hands rest on Tony’s shoulder before sliding them down his sides until they came to rest on his hips. “You looked about fifteen.”

“I know,” Tony said with a grin. “I mostly didn’t mind but I don’t look fifteen anymore, do I?”

“Late twenties, early thirties, according to Jim,” Stephen replied.

“So, not too young for you?”

Stephen chuckled. “No, though I’m mourning your grey hair.”

Tony reached over and brushed his fingers along Stephen’s grey streaks. “I’m not. I like yours though.”

Stephen smiled. “So… are we going to talk about this?”

“Nope,” Tony said, wriggling forward a little on Stephen’s lap and grinning at the sudden intake of breath he got for his action. “I’ve been without my boyfriend for way too long. You need to make that up to me.”

Stephen’s eyes narrowed. “Do I now?”

“Yep.”

Tony yelped as his world twisted and turned and he found himself lying on his back on the bed, Stephen looming over him. He thoroughly approved of the move and wrapped his arms around Stephen’s shoulders to pull him down. 

“This is better,” he murmured. “Kiss me now. Talk later.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Stephen replied and then they were far too busy.


End file.
